Cement and steel railroad-tie.



W. J. HORN. onmnn'r AND STEEL BAILBOAD TIE.

APPLIOATION FILED HA1. 3, 1810.

Patented Mar.'14 ,1911.

nwmw? WILLIAM J. HQHN ATTORNEYS 1 UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

-w1mi1am J. HORN, or LAMAR, mssoum.

CEMENT AND STEEL RAILROAD-TIE.

To all whomv it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. Honn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident (ii-Lamar, in the county of Barton and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cement and Steel Railroad-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in railroad ties and has for an object, among others,

to provide a novel construction of reinforced concrete railroad tie; and the invention consists' 111 certaln novel construetlons and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter dc scribed and claimed.

in the drawing Figurel isaside elevation' of the steel skeleton frame, the concrete being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a top holding wedges in place. Fig. 8 is a cross section on about line 88 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of one of the stay bolts.

In carrying out the invention, the tie A may be made of the regulation length of the concrete B and the skeleton reinforcing frame C wlnch is embedded in the concrete or cement, the latter being molded on the skeleton frame and entirely inclosing the sameexcept the upper or top bar C which rests on the upper surface of the cement, the cement on thebottom of the tie being just flush with the bottom edge of the lower bar C of the frame, the frame having at its ends extensions (P- which taper toward their cx tremity C and are reinforced at such point by blocks (1 forming heads and avoiding any point like formations at the ends of the frame.

Between the top bar and the base bar, I

provide a series of uprights D and strut braces E disposed. as best shown in Fig. l.

and the uprights D are grooved or channeledin their op positc faces at D as shown in Figs.

1, i and (Sand the strut braces extend di- V Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 3, 1910. SerialjNo. 547,065.

Fig. 5.is a cross sectionson Patented Mar. 14., 1 911.

tegrity of the mass of concrete or cement will. be maintained and the cement or concrete will be strengthened throughout by the frame when the latter is embedded therein as shown and before described.

The top bar C is curved upwardly at its center producing an arch-like form, thus increasing the strength of the frame which is preferably of steel and of a medium softnature to prevent breaking under strain.

The tie may be made of the usual or any desired length and the ties being alike as to concrete body and reinforcing frame, may be substituted one for the other whenever for any reason one tie becomes broken or otherwise impaired. v

Adjacent its ends the frame is provided with rail seats F which, as shown in Fig. l, are directly above one of the uprights D so the weight exerted upon the rail G fitted to the seat F will be borne in the direction of.

length of the said upright underlying the rail seat. The opposite sides of tlie rail seat are formed with upwardly projecting lugs H which have transverse openings 11 for the passage of the wedges I which are inserted from the outer side of the lugs'l-I through the openings ll to bear at their .inner tapered ends I upon the ail base G as'best shown lll Fig. 3 of the drawingw -When driven home to the position shown in Fig. 3, the wedges I may be fastened in position by a key J driven below thcouter end of the edge I, the latter being notched at I for the reception of the key J, the said notch forming a seat for the key as will be understood from Fig. 3, and the frame C being provided with a shoulder at C as best shown in Figs. 2 and S alongside of which is bent the key J when the latter is driven to position as shown in Fig. for holding its wedge, the said key being made of wrought iron or other suitable material which can be bentinto engagement with the shoulder C when the parts are fitted for use, as shown at the right in Fig. and in Fig. 3. p The lugs H on opposite. sides of the rail seat are made heavy to render them strong and durable in use. a

By the described construction the steel reinforcing frame is protected from rust and strength and the skeleton reinforcing frame is so constructed as to reduce the liability of breaking the cement ties. Furthermore the tie 'is comparatively cheap when its longevity is considered.

. The rail .securing devices are so constructed as to securely hold the rails and' prevent spreading such as is apt to result from the loosening of spikes and rotting of ties.-

The fastening devices are such that they can be. quickly operated in placing and removing the rails and when the tie is complete for use it presents a solid reinforced body of concrete which is simple, easily operated, durable and designed to efficiently serve the purpose for which it is intended.

I prefer to employ transverse stay bolts K headed at K asshown in Fig. 9 and arranged transversely Within the concrete tie extending from side to side thereof and nearly to the'opposite sides and placed at suitable points, such as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 to prevent the tie from splitting or from dividing or separating from the reinforcing frame.

Manifestly the proportional construction may be varied and the parts so proportioned as to secure the desired .rcsult rom the practical use of the invention.

I claim: v

1.. A railroad tie consisting of a body and a reinforcing frame therein, the latter hav-' ing a base bar and a top bar, and upright and strut braces between the base and top bars and having at its ends extensions tapering toward their extremities and having head like formations at such extremities,"

t1 1 top bar being arched u Wardly at its middle and being provided a jacent its ends with rail seats located'directly above certain of the liprights and having on opposite sides of said rail seats upwardly pro ecting lugs provided with transverse openings leading to the rail seats, rail securing Wedges operating in said openings and havin at their inner adjacent ends inclined sur aces to engage upon a rail base and having their outer ends notched on their under sides and keys driven beneath. said notched ends of the wedges,substantially as set forth.

2. A railroad tie consisting of a body and a reinforcing frame therein, the latter having a base bar and a top bar, uprights between the base and top bars, the top bar being provided adjacent its ends with rail seats and havin on opposite sides of said rail seats upwardly projecting lugs provided with transverse openings leading to the rail seats, rail securing wedges operating in said openings and having at their inner adjacent ends inclined surfaces to engage upon a rail base and having their outer ends notched on their under sides, and keys driven beneath said notched ends of the wedges, substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM J. HORN \Vitnesscs J. B. MCGILRAY, MARY MoCowN. 

